Microsurgical instruments typically are used by surgeons for removal of tissue from delicate and restricted spaces in the human body, particularly in surgery on the eye, and more particularly in procedures for removal of the vitreous body or the crystalline lens. Such instruments include a control console and a surgical handpiece with which the surgeon dissects and removes the tissue. The handpiece has a surgical tool such as a pneumatic vitreous probe or an ultrasonic microsurgical cutter for cutting or fragmenting the tissue and is connected to the control console by a long air pressure (pneumatic) line or power cable and by long conduits, cable, optical cable or flexible tubes for supplying an infusion fluid to the surgical site and for withdrawing or aspirating fluid and cut/fragmented tissue from the site. The cutting, infusion and aspiration functions of the handpiece are controlled by the remote control console that not only provides power for the surgical handpiece(s) (e.g., a reciprocating or rotating cutting blade or an ultrasonically vibrated needle), but also controls the flow of infusion fluid and provides a source of reduced pressure (relative to atmosphere) for the aspiration of fluid and cut/fragmented tissue. The functions of the console are controlled manually by the surgeon, usually by means of a foot-operated switch.
The multiple connections that are required between the handpiece and the console for the power cable and the infusion and aspiration lines have made the preparation and interconnection of the equipment prior to the surgical procedure extremely complex, with the resultant concerns over maintaining the sterility of the equipment and assuring error-free connection. Accordingly, the typical microsurgical instruments, the fluid handling connections have come to be centralized in a "cassette" that contains in one unit the connections for the aspiration lines, internal conduits for directing the flow of fluids, valves for controlling the flow of fluids from the handpiece, a receptacle for aspirated fluid and tissue and may contain the tube portion of a peristaltic pump. The cassette typically is supplied in a sterile package with color-coded connecting tubing that may or may not be already attached. Nevertheless, setting up the equipment still requires connection of the cassette and console to handpiece infusion lines, handpiece aspiration lines, electrical power cables, pneumatic lines and/or fiberoptic cables and inserting the cassette into a receptacle in the console. In addition, several handpieces may be used during a typical operation, multiplying the number of lines that must be connected between the handpieces and the console. While color coding of the lines reduces the chances of misconnecting the lines, these multiple lines may become tangled and kinked easily as the console is generally outside of the sterile field and hence, several feet away from the operative site, thereby requiring the lines to be several feet long. Therefore, it is important that these lines remain stretched out and relatively straight in order to ensure that air and infusion/aspiration fluid flows freely to and from the operative site. Also, these lines may be connected to valves and/or stopcocks. Keeping the lines straight and untangled helps in associating the proper valve with the proper line.
Prior art devices, including the surgical drapes disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,721,234 and 5,010,899 include integral tabs or loops into which the surgical lines may be placed and held during surgery. However, these drapes, while providing a means to hold the lines in place during surgery, do not address the problem of minimizing tangling and kinking of the lines prior to surgery, and reducing the likelihood of misconnected lines.
Accordingly, a need continues to exist for a self-contained surgical tubing management system that holds the various power and fluid lines used during surgery relatively straight, spaced apart from each other and pre-connected, thereby providing a complete tubing and cable package that more easily and reliably allows the surgical handpiece(s) to be connected to a surgical console.